Critics in the legal community, meanwhile, have called it a “disgrace,” “dangerous and stupid,” and possibly an “impeachable offense.”

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The muted GOP reaction from Capitol Hill isn't surprising. Republican leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers have been reluctant to directly call out or criticize the unorthodox leader of their party, fearful of becoming the target of his ire and his tweets.

But Trump’s Labor Day tweet may represent the most egregious example to date of the president interfering with ongoing Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations and engaging in what many are calling blatant obstruction of justice.

"This tweet alone may be an impeachable offense," legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said on CNN's "New Day." "This is such a disgrace. This is so contrary to the traditions of the Department of Justice."

Trump’s tweet also sparked criticism from former officials who served under the president.

“That’s just not how the Department of Justice works,” Ian Prior, a former Justice Department spokesman in the Trump administration, told The Hill on Tuesday. “They do not prosecute people based on political affiliation and they do not pass on prosecuting people based on political affiliation. That’s called selective prosecution and those things get thrown out in court.”

“Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department,” Trump tweeted. “Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff......

“The Democrats, none of whom voted for Jeff Sessions, must love him now.”

Trump’s tweet marked the latest broadside in a months-long war against his own attorney general and Justice Department from a president still furious that Sessions recused himself last year from any DOJ probes into the 2016 election. That decision eventually led to the appointment of special counsel Robert MuellerRobert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probeMORE, whose Russia investigation Trump has dismissed as a politically motivated “witch hunt” and something that Sessions must stop.

Now, Trump is getting personally involved in the criminal investigations into two House allies, a departure from protocol which dictates that the DOJ and FBI should operate independently from the White House.

Federal prosecutors last month charged Collins, his son and others with insider trading related to an Australian biopharmaceutical firm where the New York congressman had been a board member and major investor. Weeks later, the DOJ charged Hunter and his wife with misusing campaign funds on things like lavish meals, alcohol and personal trips.

Both Collins and Hunter have maintained their innocence. Save for a handful of outspoken Trump critics, most of Collins’s and Hunter’s Hill colleagues have declined to comment about Trump’s latest firestorm, or pushed back half-heartedly without uttering the name “Trump.”

“But the attorney general, I believe is doing the job he thinks he's required to do under his oath,” Cornyn added, “and I think the president should keep him in place as long as the two of them can get along.”

"The United States is not some banana republic with a two-tiered system of justice – one for the majority party and one for the minority party," Sasse said in a statement.

"Instead of commenting on ongoing investigations and prosecutions,” the senator continued, “the job of the President of the United States is to defend the Constitution and protect the impartial administration of justice."

“I’m very disappointed by recent comments denigrating AG Sessions for doing his job,” Jones said in a statement. “The Attorney General swears an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, not to prosecute crimes based on political affiliation.